


Shadows hold their breath

by Dissenter



Series: Cry havoc [8]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alliances, Antifascism, Assassination, Flame Bonding, Historical, Politics, Resistance activities, Safehouses, Women Being Awesome, World War II, Worldbuilding, wartime Vongola
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 06:55:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13405839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dissenter/pseuds/Dissenter
Summary: Sometimes help comes when you least expect it.





	Shadows hold their breath

**Author's Note:**

> And this marks the introduction of Daniela's Sun. She now has a full Set.

One breath, two breaths, three. In and out and in again and it was all Daniela could do to hold Constanza’s Storm down, when she _knew_ her Storm’s every instinct was screaming to fight back. Four breaths, five, six, out and in and out, and the slightest movement could betray them.

Above their heads the Blackshirts were hunting them, too many for the two of them to take, a whole garrison’s worth, and there were too many witnesses for them to risk using using flames overtly. The Vindice didn’t accept excuses. Above their heads the Carabineri sat drinking coffee as a stranger lied to save their lives.

She had never been one for religion, never been the kind of person that would put her faith in a higher power, but as she lay there in the dark, she found herself praying, praying that Constanza’s self-control would hold, praying that the fascists wouldn’t look too close at the gaps between the floorboards, praying that their luck would hold, praying to any power that would listen to a child of war and sin like her.

Daniela could feel her Storm’s rage straining against her harmony and tranquillity and she was tired, so tired, but she dared not let go. They couldn’t fight them all, not here not now. Constanza knew that too. That was why she was allowing Daniela to smother her Rage, and keep her artificially calm. It should have been Beltrano with her, or Sparrow. Subtlety came naturally to them in a way that it never would for her Storm. Constanza was made for battle and blood, not hiding in the dark praying that death would pass them by. But women could move freely when men could not could get close when a man would have been stopped before he’d ever reached the gates, and of the women that could have killed an active Lightning only she and Constanza had been close enough to act before the situation had spiralled out of control.

That was the trouble with war. With so many people forced to confront their own mortality, it meant that _anyone_ could go active, her own Sparrow was proof enough of that. And if anyone could go active, well, that included the fascists didn’t it.

It was a power they could not be allowed to have.

So Daniela had laid down the law for the alliance, that any fascist, any collaborator, anyone in any way bound to Mussolini’s government who showed any sign of having manifested active Flames, was to be assassinated. Immediately. No exceptions, no hesitations. The Vindice had backed her play, which was confirmation enough of the seriousness of the situation.

It was working. The enemy still didn’t know exactly what Flames were or how they worked. They knew there was _something_ unnatural about what the mafia could achieve, they knew there must be a reason they were taking such pains to assassinate seemingly random supporters of the regime. But they didn’t know what or why or how, and that was no small victory.

The thought of the sheer damage a Sky could do in the hands of the enemy was enough to give Daniela cold chills. The ability to carry a crowd, a city, a nation along with the force of their vision for the future.

The man she and Constanza had gone to kill hadn’t been a Sky thank God. But he had been a Lightning, and more than that, he’d managed to hide his active status for long enough to figure out some of how to use it. He’d fought hard enough that they hadn’t been able to get away clean.

They’d got in because the fascists always did underestimate women, brought into their own ideology too much to see the threat. They’d posed as hookers and no-one had blinked when they bribed a guard to let them in. Common practice for higher ranked officers, and corruption always had been a universal constant. But the enemy weren’t complete fools. They’d let them in because they’d underestimated them, but with the body found too soon, and she and Constanza the only obvious suspects, they’d been quick enough to start a hunt for them.

If only the man hadn’t been so high ranked. Commander of the local garrison, and the Blackshirts were out in force to avenge the insult. She and Constanza were caught like rats in a trap, slipping through the city’s back alleys, desperately trying to avoid the patrols.

Then a stranger had stopped them in the street and offered them shelter unlooked for, with a smile too vicious for it to have been wholly out of kindness. She’d had Sunshine yellow hair and a comfortable motherly figure, and eyes like cold steel. She’d taken them into her home and shown them the narrow crawlspace under the floors, and told them to stay very quiet and still.

Daniela had listened to her. What other choice did she have?

When the Blackshirts had come knocking at their rescuer’s door she’d been polite, and deferential, and offered them coffee in an unspoken plea not to upturn her life, and they had fallen for it hook line and sinker. Daniela was reminded of the lessons all mafia princesses learned about how to put their enemies at their ease, so that they least expected treachery. She rather thought her teachers in those arts could have learned much from this woman, with the latent Sun Flames prickling under her skin almost close enough to touch.

…

It was nightfall by the time their rescuer came to give them the all clear, and offer them something warm to eat. Serafina she said her name was, and apparently she was involved with the resistance, which explained a lot. There weren’t a lot of reasons for someone to have such an effective safehouse set up, and given Daniela knew she wasn’t with any of the Famiglias, the Reds were the only other logical conclusion.

Serafina had of course, guessed that they weren’t exactly with the political resistance. They didn’t know any of the right signs or countersigns. But she’d decided that in the interests of spiting their common enemies, she was more than willing to show a little co-operation and offer them shelter. She’d explained all this with a vicious kind of satisfaction as they knocked back glasses of the good wine stolen off the back of the officers’ supply shipments and something in Daniela had flickered in interest at the taste of her still latent Flames. It took effort to rein herself back in. Serafina was right on the verge of going active, and she was most certainly compatible, but she was not mafia, and she had other commitments, and convictions Daniela knew she would never be able to sway. Not to mention the absolute mess it would make politically, trying to steal away a resistance member for her own personal guard.

They slept that night in Serafina’s guest room, and Daniela tried very hard not to think about the fact that she still needed/wanted/craved a Sun, and that Serafina was so very compatible. Ruthlessly efficient, and effective, with a vicious streak that both Daniela and Constanza fully appreciated. No matter how badly she wanted, it wasn’t her right to interfere. If Serafina went Active, she would make her offer, but as long as she was Latent it was not Daniela’s place to push. Even if it _was_ only a matter of time.

…

The next morning began while it was still dark, with a quiet knocking at the door, and a sharp eyed wiry little girl of no more than ten, being brought into the kitchen for a warm glass of milk. She glared suspiciously at Daniela and Constanza when she noticed their presence at the kitchen table, but after a quick glance at Serafina she didn’t ask any questions. The blonde boy that followed in her shadow was younger still, less wary, with a wide eyed innocence the girl lacked, but he was just as ragged and skinny and when the girl cast a meaningful glance at him he had the sense to keep his silence.

The strength of the Rain flames Daniela could sense from them was startling. They were both very much Latent, but the sleeping power in their souls was matched by only a handful of other Flame users she’d ever met.

The girl had passed a message to Serafina before leaving, neatly explaining what she’d been doing there. Using street kids as runners was a time honoured tactic, after all, if women were underestimated, how much more was that true of children. They were more or less invisible when they wanted to be, and they all had far more sense than the talk to the authorities. She repressed the urge to ask what was in the note. It wasn’t her business, and given Serafina had already put herself at risk to help them it would be the worst sort of bad manners to intrude on organisational security.

Daniela would have left it alone. But then, unexpectedly Serafina offered up the information voluntarily.

“I’ve been authorised to strike a deal with you Donna de Vongola.” She said. Daniela hadn’t told her who she was, but it wasn’t like the information would be hard to find under the circumstances. And it seemed Serafina’s contacts had been doing some digging.

“What kind of a deal?” Daniela was curious. Whatever the Resistance wanted, it must be serious, judging by the way Serafina had addressed her.

“We want access to Flames.” Serafina said calmly, “We want information about how they work, and instructions on their use, and a guarantee that you won’t kill our operatives the way you have the fascists, should they develop the ability.” Constanza breathed in sharply in shock.

“Don’t ask for much do you?” She murmured half disbelieving, half impressed at the audacity. Storms always did respect daring.

Daniela considered her options. The resistance had been smart, clearly they knew, that out of anyone in the alliance she was probably the only one in a position to make that decision unilaterally, and considering what Serafina, and by extension the resistance had just done for her, she owed it to them to at least hear their proposal out. Clever, clever, Daniela could respect that, and the fact that the Sun in front of her most likely had a part in this plan only made her more appealing.

“What would you be willing to offer in exchange?” There were after all, certain advantages to arming the resistance with Flames. It would at very least make more trouble for Mussolini and his regime, and make it harder to prove mafia involvement. True, it might lead to problems further down the line, if they ever did manage to oust Mussolini and his men, if they won the war. After all, with their common enemy gone it was more than likely they would end up at odds with each other. But when it came down to it first they had to win the war, and that was going to be a difficult enough task. If they ever did end up at odds with each other, they would deal with it then, until that happened, they were allies, and stronger allies were more useful.

“We would be willing to transfer a third of our Active Flame users to your command once the war is over. The possibility has been voted on, and our members have agreed to it.” Now that, was an interesting offer. It would mean that the benefit the Vongola reaped from training Flame users would be directly proportional to the number they trained, a convenient way of ensuring the Resistance got their money’s worth. But for all that it was a tempting offer. Flame active fighters were a valuable resource, and this war had wreaked a brutal process of attrition. By the end of it they might well need those extra forces to maintain their power.

It also implied that they wanted their current good relations to last even after their shared enemy was destroyed. After all only a fool handed over soldiers to an enemy. And only an even greater fool would trust soldiers given to them by their enemy. It would be a gesture of goodwill, and good intent. It was an appealing thought.

“Would you be included in that third?” Daniela smirked, and was rewarded by the surprise on Serafina’s face.

“Me?” It was oddly satisfying to catch her off balance. Constanza kept an amused silence. She knew Daniela well enough to know _exactly_ what she was doing.

“Hmm yes. After all, you are right on the edge of going active.” Serafina looked stunned, and Daniela smirked again. “Didn’t you know?”

“No I… I didn’t.” She blinked once, twice, visibly gathered her thoughts together. “What Flame do I have?”

“You’re a Sun. A strong one. Incidentally I happen to need a Sun, and you are very compatible. I would like you for one of my Guardians. If you were willing.” Serafina gave her a hard look.

“And would this deal be dependent on my agreement?” Daniela did think about it for a moment, but she didn’t want to be the kind of Sky that would coerce someone into being her guardian. Nothing good lay down that path.

“No. I’m willing to take the deal either way. If you were to agree to become my guardian I’d be willing to let you leverage it into a more favourable agreement, but the deal would stand either way.” Serafina looked considering.

“And if I were to agree to become your Guardian. What would happen then? I can’t leave my current position, I’m needed here, and I can’t be easily replaced.” And there it was, clearly she was close enough to Active, to want what Daniela was offering, to want a Sky. She was worried about the details, but she wasn’t opposed to the idea, and that was the confirmation Daniela had needed.

“The agreement was for personnel to be transferred after the war, I see no reason to deviate from that. We’d have to bond straight away, there are too many advantages not to, but there would be no sense in moving you from where you’re needed.” Daniela could see the moment Serafina made her decision, the resolve that flitted across her face, and it made her intuition _purr_ at the rightness of it.

Of course there were details to be worked out. Specifics to be written down and encoded, and sent with that sharp eyed little girl Lal to be passed to whoever else needed to know them. It took a while, even with Constanza’s startlingly sharp intelligence, and Serafina’s ruthless efficiency, and Daniela’s extensive training in politics and negotiations. It took a while but at the end of it she had a Sun, had that steel sharp practicality, and unshakable principles nestled at the back of her soul. She had a Sun, and a way to improve relations with their non-mafia allies at the same time as giving the Blackshirts a very bad day.

This mission had definitely been worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Constanza was really meant to take a more prominent role in this fic. She keeps getting accidentally sidelined.  
> This one came partly out of wondering what the Vongola would have done about fascists who ended up Flame active, and partly about considering the relationship between the Vongola and other non-mafia resistance groups.   
> It isn't entirely clear in this, but Serafina is a bit older than Daniela and Constanza, being in her late twenties, and having at one point had children of her own.   
> And meet bb Lal and Colonello, messengers for the resistance. Well Lal is, and Colonello follows her around like a puppy. They will probably make further appearances.


End file.
